Cleaning apparatus for castings and the like



Feb. 17, 1953 R. s. WEBSTER 2,628,455

CLEANING APPARATUS FOR CASTINGS AND THE LIKE Filed June 8, 1949 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 Feb. 17, 1953 R. s. WEBSTER 2,628,455

CLEANING APPARATUS FOR CASTINGS AND THE LIKE Filed June 8, 1949 l 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 IN V EN TOR.'

Afro/mns.

Feb. 17, 1953 R. s. WEBSTER CLEANING APPARATUS FOR CASTINGS AND THE LIKE 4 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed June 8, 1949 m m m m ATTORNEYS.

Feb. 17, 1953 R s, WEBTER 2,628,455

CLEANING APPARATUS FOR CASTINGS AND THE LIKE Filed June 8, 1949 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 GUN DOLLY ASSEMBLY CAR IAGE HYDROBLAST ROOM WALL VALVE PAN EL ASSEMBLY IIOV. 6OCY.

HYDRAULIC UNIT VERTICAL TRAVERSE MOTOR HORIZONTAL TRAVERSE MOTOR CONTROL UNIT 6/ IN VEN TOR.'

Y/mw, @ne @M ATTORNE YS Patented Feb. 17, 1953 UNITED STATES PATsNT OFFICE CLEANING APPARATUS FOR CASTINGS AND THE LIKE vRoderick S. Webster, Chicago, Ill., assignor to The Hydro-Blast Corporation, Chicago, Ill., a corporation of Illinois Application June8, 1949, Serial No. 97,859

8 Claims.

This invention relates to cleaning apparatus for castings and the like and vmore particularly rtovapparatus for removing cores, scale and other foreign material from castings and similar articles by means of a jet of Water in which abrasive materialmay be carried.

The cleaning Vof castings by water jets with or Without the additionA ofl abrasive particles has beenA vpracticed for some time. For relatively small jets it has been the usual practice for the operator to hold the nozzle or gun in his -hands Vso that extreme flexibility is obtained in directing the jet against the article from any desired position and at any desired angle. However, for high Volume jets the reaction on the nozzle is ktoofgreat to permit manual handling, and it becomes-necessary to mount the nozzle on a support.

For mounted guns ornozzles it has been the practice to support the castings or like articles to'be cleaned on turntables or other movable suprports so that different portions thereof may be vpresented to the jet. AIt has also been proposed to mount the gun or nozzle fory angular adjustment so that the jet can be 'directed against the castings at different angles. Even with this construction, however, suflicient lflexibility is not .provided to permit adequate cleaning of all types of articles.

It is accordingly one of the objects of the present invention to provide a cleaning' apparatus in vwhich the jet can bel directed against the articles from`A any :desired horizontal and vertical position relativev to the articles and at any desired angle.

VIn the pref-erred construction the gun or nozzle Ving mechanism through YVflexible leads so that the .mechanism canbe controlledfrom any desired remote position.

`Still another Objectis to .provide cleaning apparatus in which the gun'ismounted lon a carriage wh-ich :is horizontally movable on an elongated horizontal beam and the beam is mounted for Vertical-movement. -In Ythe preferred constructionthe carriage carries its own drive means so that itcanmovealong-the beam as desired.

Still another object is to provide cleaning apparatus in which the angle of the gun is adjusted by fluid motors controlled through electrically operated valves from a remote point.

The above and othervobjects and advantages of the invention will be more readily apparent when read in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a partial sectional'view through a cleaning room equipped with cleaning apparatus embodying the invention;

Figure 2 is a vertical section through the gun carriage;

Figure 3 is a section transverse to 'Figure `2 through the gun carriage;

Figure 4 is a diagramof the control circuits; and

Figure 5 is a perspective view of the switch control handle.

The invention may be applied to any desired cleaning room shown as having vertical side walls I0, a roof II, and a oor I2 formed by a grating to permit flow of Water and abrasive particles therethrough. A sump I3 is provided below the grating I2 to collect the water, sand and the like for reuse or for other disposal, as desired. Castings or other articles to be cleaned may be supported above the floor on a rotatable grating I4 and which is preferably rotatable so that the casting can be turned for cleaning all sides thereof. The construction of the turntable forms no part of the present invention, and it is, thereforanot described in detail. One of the side Walls of the room is formed with a plurality of glazed openings I5 throughwhich an operator outside the room may observe the cleaning operation in the room.

The castings or other articles are adapted to be cleaned by a high velocity jet of water projected by a 'gun or nozzle I 6 carried on a carriage I1 which is mounted for travel along a horizontal beam I8. The beam is supported for vertical movement on vertical guides or tracks shown as round posts I9 mounted at spaced points adjacent one wall of the room. The ends of the beam I8 are formed with guide brackets 2| slidably engaging the tracks I9. To move thebeam vertically, a pai of 'chains 22 are provided runside or outside oi the room, as desired. As shown in Figure 1, the mechanism as described' may be duplicated any desired number of times in the same room to provide any desired number of guns in the room.

As best seen in Figures 2 and 3, the carriage I1 comprises a supporting frame or housing 2G providing an enclosure for portions of the operating mechanism. The frame carries four wheels 21 by means of which it is mounted for rolling movement on the beam I8 which, as best seen in Figure 3, is formed by a pair of T beams 28 spaced apart with their webs extending toward each other. As shown, the rollers 21 rest on the flanges of the beams 28, and to hold the carriage against accidental movement a roller 29 may engage the lower surface of one of the anges.

To move the carriage along the beam, an electric motor 3| is carried by the carriage and drives a. sprocket 32 through a, gear reducer 33. The sprocket meshes with a series of pins 34 carried by the web of one of 4the beams 28 so that as `the sprocket turns the carriage Will positively be moved along the beams. Movement -of the c arriage to its extreme positions in either direction pressure.

is limitedby a limit switch 35 connected to the .v.

motor 3| and driven from the gear reducer 33 through a chain 36. It will be understood that as the carriage approaches thelimit of its travel inY either direction the limit Yswitch will interrupt the motor circuit and prevent further travel ini...

such direction.

In order to mount the gun I6 on the carriage I1 having universal movement a shaft 31 is journaled in the carriage for rotation about a vertical axis. A yoke 38 spans the shaft 31 and is pivotedVV ,thereto on ahorizontal aXis,.and the gun i6 is connected to the yoke to be swung thereby. By turningthe shaft 31,.the angleofthe gunV in a horizontal plane may be adjusted while the swinging of the yoke Y33 will adjust the 'gun in a vertical plane so thatby a combination of the twomovements completeuniversal adjustment of the gun .is possible. The gun may be supplied with water under pressure, and with a mixture of water and abrasive if desired `through hoses 39, as shown Yin Figure 1, Vwhich are eXible so that the gun may be supplied and may operate in any position.

-To adjust the angular position of the gun, fluid motors are employed, each of which includes a cylinder 4| in which a piston is slidable and which has a piston .rod 42 projecting from one end thereof. The motor for Yhorizontal adjustment issecured in the frame 26 and has its piston rod pivotally.,connected to a .double arm v43 rigidly secured to the. shaft31.- Thusby swinging the arm. 43 the. shaft 31 will be turned. The motor for vertical adjustment is fastenedto a bracket 44 ,rigidly carried ,by ,the-shaft 31 and has its piston rodpivoted to theendof the yoke 33, asbest seen in Figure 3. Thus by operation of this motor the vertical angle of the gun will be controlled. It will be noted that with motors as shown a differential action is obtainedY due to the difference in area at opposite ends of the piston produced by displacement of the piston rod so that each piston has a small end from which the piston rod extends and a large end. The purpose of this construction will be more apparent hereinafter.

Figure 4 illustrates diagrammatically the control system Vfor the several motors required to produce the desired movements. As shown, the fluid motors 4| may be ,supplied with operating fluid from a pump 45 receiving liquid from a sump 46 and discharging it through an accumulator 41 into a high pressure supply line 48. A

' bypass valve 49 may be provided to limit the pressure, and a controllable bypass valve 5| operated by a solenoid 52 may be provided to cut off the pressure when desired. Return of exhaust liquid to the sump is through a return line 53 and the supply and reutrn lines 48 and 53 may supply any desired number of gun units.

The small ends of the cylinders 4| are connected, as shown, to the supply line 48 through check valves 54 so that the small ends of the cylinders are subjected at all times to full Dump The large ends of the cylinders 4| are connected respectively through lines 55 to the midpoint between control valves 56 and 51. The valves 55 are connected to the return line 53, as shown, while the valves 51 are `connected to the pressure supply lines for the different uid motors. When either of the valves 51 is opened full pump pressure will be admitted to both ends of its corresponding motor and due to the dinerential piston area the piston rod of that motor will be moved out of its cylinder. On the other hand, when either of the valves 56 is opened the large end of its correspondingv motor will be connected to the sump, and the piston rodY will be'moved into the cylinder. When both valves are closed, the large ends of the cylinders will be closed, and the pistons cannot move in either direction.

The valves 56 and 51 are controlled by individual solenoids 58 which are connectedrespectively to switch terminals 59 in a control box 6|. Thepswitch terminals are'normally open and are adapted to be closed by contacts 62 to complete circuits selectively to the solenoids 58 to open the desired one of the valves. The switch contacts 62 are carried by an operating handle 63 as best seen in Figure 5 which projects from the control box and which is mounted therein on a universal joint connection including a ball 64 on the control handle slidably received in a socket, not shown, in the control box. The switches and handle are so arranged that movement of the handle in any given direction will cause movement of the gunwin the same direction. For example, if the handle is moved down, it will close the contacts 59 at the top, as seen in Figure 4, to open the valve 56 for the vertical motor 4|. 'I'his will cause the piston rod 42 to move down thereby depressing the back end oi the bracket 38 and raising the front endV of the gun to correspond generally to the angle of the handle. It will be noted that movementvof the handle to a diagonal position may close two ofA the switches to cause simultaneous operation of the two motors 4I thereby to move the gun diagonally. In this way by simple movements of a single control handle movements of the gun can be accurately controlled. Y

The motors 25 and 3| for controlling vertical movement of the beam I8 and horizontal movement of the carriage on the beam may be controlled through a similar switch mechanism including the vertically spaced contacts 65 to control the motor 25 and the horizontally spaced contacts 66 to control the motor 3|. yThe contacts 65 and 66 may be closed by cooperating contacts 62 carried by'a control handle identical with that shown in Figure 5 and described above. It will be noted that the motor 3| is connected in the circuit through the limit switch 35 and a similar limit switch 61 may be provided for the motor 25 to limit vertical travel of the beam I8 in either direction.

When it is desired to raise the gun bodily, the handle for controlling the motors 25 and 3| may be raised to close the lower switch contacts 65.

6. Cleaning apparatusfor castings andthe like comprising a supporting structure including spaced vertical track members, a horizontal beam mounted on thetrack members for vertical movement thereon, means including areversible electric motor :to move the beam vertically 1a carriage mounted on the beam for horizontal movement thereon, means vincluding a reversible electric motor lto move the carriage on the beam, a nozzle on the carriage, pairs of control switches for rcontrolling the motors respectively, la single operating handle engagelable with the control switches and movable in dierent planes to control the respective pairs of switches, means mounting the nozzle for universal Aangular 'adjustment, ud motors on the carriage connected `to the nozzle to move it in different planes, ilexible connections to supply operating fluid to the iluid motors, electrically controlled valves to control the supply of operating fluid to the fluid motors, switches operable from a remote point to control the valves, a single control box in which Aall of said switches are mounted, and flexible connections from the control box to the valves and electric motors.

-universal angular adjustment, motors connected members in the room, a horizontal beam mounted RODERTCK S. WEBSTER.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record 'in the lle of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date V1,857,188 Fulkerson et al. May 10, 1932 1,882,541 Billman ....^Oct. 11, 1932 1,928,621 Frede et al. Oct.- 3, 1933 2,063,054 Rosenberger Dec. 8, 1936 2,104,062 Temple Jan. 4, 1938 2,323,744 Wikle 1- July 6, 1943 2,440,222

Keefer Apr. 20, 1948 

